What is strategy ? Strategy is the direction and scope of

an organisation over the long term : ideally, which matches its resources to its changing environment, and in particular its markets, customers or clients so as to meet stakeholder expectations.

“The clear cut choices about how to compete”

“ The direction or path chosen to

pursue the goal”.

What is the difference between Strategy and Tactics.

Strategy is the path or choice made to pursue the goal.

Tactic is the rate or speed at which you pursue the strategy.

Evolution of the concept of Evolution of the concept of strategic Managementstrategic Management

The word Strategy comes from the Greek work- Strategia, which means a General or Military Commander( the art of the general)

Stratos- cloudsArgos- armyThus literally it means, “ the view of

the army from the clouds”War and Strategy are inseparable.

Strategic Management can be defined as the set of decisions and actions resulting in formulation and implementation of strategies designed to achieve both the short and long term objectives of an organization.

The strategist’s work is to challenge the existing set up with a single question -Why?

Work done in the field of Work done in the field of StrategyStrategy

The Gurus: Igor Ansoff- pioneered the concept

of strategyHenry MintzbergPeter DruckerMichael Porter All of them of them enriched the

concept of strategic management with their original insights.

Ansoff’s Strategic Success Ansoff’s Strategic Success ParadigmParadigmIgor Ansoff conducted extensive

research on acquisitions by American companies between 1948 and 1968.

He found that acquisitions based on a rational strategy fared far better than those that were based on opportunistic decisions.

Ansoff’s success paradigm identified the following-

There is no universal success formula for all firms.

The level of turbulence in the environment determines the strategy required for the success of a firm.

The aggressiveness of the strategy should be aligned with the turbulence in the environment to optimize the firm’s success.

The management's capabilities should be aligned with environment to optimise the firm’s success.

Internal capability variables i.e.- cognitive, psychological, political, anthropological and sociological variables, all jointly determine the firm’s success.

The above findings , he translated into a diagnostic instrument called “ Strategic Readiness Diagnosis”

Ansoff’s other contributions-His book “ Corporate Strategy” (1965),

played a key role in the development of strategic planning.

An analytical Approach to Business Policy for Growth and Expectation.

He introduced gap analysis and the concept of synergy to a wide audience for the first time.

He created the famous “ Ansoff’s Grid”

Henry Mintzberg- Strategy Henry Mintzberg- Strategy as craftas craftThe next most influential thinker in

the field of strategic management – he gave the personal side of the manager into the picture.

Advocated a more humane approach to strategy formulation and implementation and coined “crafting strategy”.

Seminal work entitled “ The rise and fall of Strategic Planning” & “Strategy Safari”

Peter Drucker ‘s Peter Drucker ‘s contributioncontributionBiggest contribution to business

strategy was the introduction of the concept of Management by Objectives (MBO).

The focus was shifted from processes to goals.

Major contributions- The practice of Management , The Essential Drucker

Michael Porter:Michael Porter:Competitive Strategy and Competitive AdvantageCompetitive Strategy and Competitive Advantage

Based on environment analysis, he introduced the

“ five forces model” .He introduced generic strategies like focus, cost

leadership and differentiation.He also introduced the value chain analysis.Literally his contributions include- Competitive

strategy(1980), Competitive Advantage(1985), The Competitive Advantage of nations (1990)

Other notable contributors in the field of strategy include-

C.K. Prahalad and Gary HamelSumantra Ghoshal and Christopher

Bartlett.Kenechi Ohmae.Chan Kim and Renee Maubourgne.